Archive for the 'Interesting' Category

charmaspice

Free Movies - Can it be?

Current Mood:Martini Mood emoticon Martini Mood

disneydisneydisneyTonight I was going through the blogs I read, and found on the blog Freebies 4 Mom that Disney shows movies for free on their website.  I am so amazed by this I have to blog about it, and post it on all of my other social network sites.  You can watch it in a teeny tiny screen, or you can make it full screen; it’s pretty good quality for being streamed off the internet.  Right now Peter Pan is playing through Friday, and rumor has it that it’s the new version of Peter Pan next week.  Head over to Disney.go.com to check it out.  You only have to watch a few ad’s, and then the movie comes on.  While you’re there you can also click on the “Wonderful World of Disney” down on the left to see what movies are playing this week on the Disney Channel.  Enjoy!

dead headphonist

Tumblr’n : photoblogging trial

I’ve signed up for a social service called Tumblr that let’s you post various junk by e-mailing to an interface. I’ve integrated this into eastowners at the Tumblr’n link above. Check it out for various random bits. The cool thing is that this gives me a way to get photos from my phone directly posted online with a quick caption. I think it’s nifty.

charmaspice

Who Searches…

Current Mood:Tired or Sleepy emoticon Tired or Sleepy

Here’s what I want to know…Who searches for such terms as “dad crossdresses tv show” and gets our website?  I had to go out and use those search terms to find out what exactly someone would find if they had searched for that.  Come to find out it brings up my previous post on Twin Peaks where I talked about David Duchovney.  The clincher is though, that it was on page 3 of the Google search!

Another one I found about a month ago was the search terms “drunk moms that do crazy things”.  Now, I know that I do crazy things when I’m drunk, but I don’t believe I’ve ever blogged too much about that.  I try to keep this family friendly as my father-in-law & other family member read this quite often.  Not that I have much to hide, because most of them have seen me in a drunken stupor during some phase of my life.

I just found it rather interesting what was in our our search terms on our word press dashboard.  I also find it interesting that some days we have 40 hits, other days we have 5 hits.  Kinda makes me wonder who is reading my thoughts on life.

charmaspice

Am I Crazy!?!?!

Current Mood:Confused emoticon Confused

sleep overClare got invited to her first sleep over at a school friend’s house.  The sleep over party is tomorrow night after school, and on Saturday morning they are going to see the Bee Movie before being done with the party.  I am slightly hesitant to send her, but I am trying to keep my cool Mommy on by allowing her to go.  I don’t know the parents well, but I have met the dad several time at drop off at school and feel comfortable enough with him that I think she’ll be okay.  4 of the other girls from school are going, so I think she’ll be even more okay.  Plus their will be 5 other girls from their church spending the night to round out the fun.  Clare has been on only one other sleep over…and it was literally around the corner from our house at a friend’s that she has been on many play dates with.  That and we know the  parents extremely well!  The main reason for the sleep over was, however, that we shared a babysitter to go out to see a show…so it worked to our convienence.  I think this might be to our convienence too though, as it will give us a night home alone - so long as she actually makes it through the night.  I’m trying to be positive, but I have a feeling I will get a phone call at 3am to come get her.  Here’s hoping…!

charmaspice

Article brings Awareness…I hope!

Current Mood:Jammin’ emoticon Jammin’ & Martini Mood emoticon Martini Mood

Disclaimer:  This blog posting is of my personal opinion, and in no way is a jab at any one person’s religion or beliefs.  It is what I have always believed, and is one of the reasons why I left the Catholic upbringing.  If you feel that your sensabilities may be hurt, then I urge you to read no further.

11 19 People EditionSo, with the fundraiser Clare’s school did for magazines I decided to become a regular subscriber of People.  I love reading it…the latest dish on celebs, fashion, and what’s going on in the social world (besides politics - which I find boring).  In this weeks issue (Nov. 19, 2007) there was a great article called “One Mother’s Tragic Lesson”.  It was about how a mom disowned her lesbian daughter just because she was a lesbian, and the mom was a Christian ( and as a Christian we are taught that homosexuality is a sin).  This mom, spent many years disliking her daughter, and the fact that she brought partners home for holidays, graduation parties, and the like, felt that she was completing a horrible sin just for being a lesbian.  Years went by and their relationship suffered.  They went to conselor’s, and of course nothing helped mend their relationship - as most mom’s can understand, her dream of her daughter growing up to get married and have a family was no longer going to be fulfilled.  As the years went on her daughter pulled away, and sent an angry letter home.  Her mother did nothing, until it was too late.  Her daughter had commited suicide.  That year the mom began reading about homosexuality and studying the Bible…and in the end she found herself thinking ” This is not a sin.  These people are just like we are; they want the same things we do.” 

Normally I do not find myself promoting anything religious…I try to stay open minded, and allow others to believe what they believe, while I believe what I believe.  I have no one philosophy, and I believe in many things.  The mom in this article could no longer be kept silent, and has told her stories to many; finally coming up with the name “TEACH Ministries“….it stands for  To Educate About the Consequences of Homophobia.  You can visit their website at the above link.  After doing so I found that they are part of 5 families that were interviewed for a movie that won prizes at the Filmdance Film Festival.  I think this is an absolutely wonderful organization and I can only hope that more people will become more accepting of those around them that happen to be different in only their sexual orientation - and in no other way, we are all humans after all.

I think I’m going to get off my soap box now and relax.  Be kind to all humans, everyone wants to live the life that they want….and so long as nobody is dieing what’s the harm!

charmaspice

Crazy Eights Meme

Current Mood:Cool emoticon Cool

eight ballI have been tagged for the Crazy Eights Meme by my pal Jill over at The Diaper Diaries.  Who can pass up a good meme?  Not I…and this one is harder than it looks, so here it goes:

8 Things I’m Passionate About 

  1. My Hubby
  2. Clare
  3. My dog Moonshadow
  4. Far too much television
  5. Movies
  6. Music
  7. Food & Fine Dining
  8. Martini’s & Wine

8 Things I say Often

  1. Stop harassing Moonshadow
  2. Can Mommy just have a few minutes of quiet and relaxation
  3. What do you need to say? (please, thank you, ect.)
  4. Give me just a minute
  5. Hang on!
  6. Please go find something to go do or play with
  7. What should we have for dinner?
  8. I need another drink

8 Books I’ve Recently Read

  1. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
  2. Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
  3. Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult
  4. The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards
  5. Running with Scissors by Augustin Burroughs
  6. Little Children by Tom Perotta
  7. The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
  8. Weird Michigan by Godfrey - Norman - Sceurman

8 Songs or Albums I could listen to over & over

  1. The entire Ingrid Michaelson - Girls & boys Album (one of her songs is now in an Old Navy Comercial for sweaters - I found her on MySpace & fell in love with her stuff)
  2. The entire Beck - Guero Album
  3. Pretty much any Sarah McLachlan
  4. Depeche Mode’s Violater Album
  5. Any & ALL Hello Dave songs - they are out of Chicago, and we go see them when they come to MI…look them up at www.hellodave.com to listen to them - they are a soulful country-fried rock & roll band
  6. All I got by Amel Larrieux
  7. Spoon’s entire album - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
  8. Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters (I love me some disco-esc music)

8 Things That Attract Me to My Friends

  1. The need to have fun & a good laugh
  2. Loyalty
  3. Honesty
  4. Enjoying good food with good drinks
  5. The desire to watch Dirty Dancing on a Friday night (or any night)
  6. Somewhat intelligent
  7. A common link in life - such as kids, music, food, drinking, people
  8. The desire to go dancing once in a while

8 Things I’ve Learned This Past Year

  1. Me time is extremely important - especially when it comes to my blog reading/writing time
  2. Date night/afternoon is almost as important as Me time
  3. Our old house is a pain in the butt to get fixed & in the shape we want it in
  4. Kindergarten is LOTS of fun
  5. Getting back into going to the gym is a pain
  6. Having nieces to spoil is better than having a second child right now
  7. Suprise get aways are LOTS of fun & very romantic
  8. I miss our road trip out to CO to visit our friends Beeko & Jackie

8 People I think should do Crazy Eights (I don’t know if I know 8 people that Jill didn’t already tag)

  1. Anyone else that reads this and feels up to the challenge (just link back so I can come read your answers)
charmaspice

Why Women are So Important…

My mom sent this to me in an e-mail, and I thought it was pertinant to where I am in my life. I am privledged enough to have many great women in my life that fill all of the personal “slots” so to say that fill my life with much needed sanity, laughter, and serious moments. It had the usual chain letter thing at the bottom to pass it on to so many women….I don’t believe in any of those things, so I deleted it immediately.

I hope that everyone is having a happy Saturday, I know we are. Coffee, the paper, and a promissed trip to the book store this afternoon will fill our day around here.

THIS SAYS IT ALL:

Time passes,
Life happens.
Distance separates.
Children grow up.
Jobs come and go.
Love waxes and wanes.
Men don’t do what they’re supposed to do .
Hearts break. Parents die.
Colleagues forget favors.
Careers end.
BUT………

Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are
between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can
reach.

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by
yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley’s rim, cheering
you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf,
and waiting with open arms at the valley’s end.

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you…Or come in and carry you out.

Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters,
sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and
extended family, all bless our life!

The world wouldn’t be the same without women, and neither would I.
When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible
joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other.

Every day, we need each other still. Pass this on to all the women who help make your life meaningful. I just did. Short and very sweet:

There are more than twenty angels in this world.
Ten are peacefully sleeping on clouds. Nine are playing. And one is
reading her e-mail at this moment.

dead headphonist

Disney, Mexican food, and wintertime

Hey all. Last night was good. We went out for Mexican at our favourite little joint, El Arriero. After a couple of margaritas, we headed over to Best Buy and picked up some new music and Clare picked out a couple of DVDs to add to the collection. Two of the new DVDs have a feature called “Fastplay”, which basically bypasses the main menu and plays the movies on the disc. It’s an EXCELLENT idea for kids’ flicks. The sense of pride for a three-year-old to do things themselves that mom-n-pop usually do for them is overwhelming. Bravo to Disney (though I’m sure it’s really just a creation for lazy parents). Anyway… I thought it was cool.

So it is definitely wintertime again. There a couple of inches of that fluffy white crap on the ground. Well… at least I got to ride the bike solid through December 1 this year. I think I made it to the 5th or 6th last year. There will be days, however, where the roads are clear enough to ride. Unfortunately, my rear tire needs replacement badly, so it has to be pretty clear in order for me to do so.

Well… that’s about it for me for now. Hope this finds everyone staying warm.

dead headphonist

Interesting

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=9953

It’s an interesting read, but the comments at the bottom are even more
interesting. Of course, reading through all the comments with
butchered English from folks claiming to be Americans (I believe them)
is both painful and distressing. People, please learn your
language! I can stomach (and even applaud) the folks whose
primary language is not English, come to the site and struggle to put a
thought into our language so that we can understand the other side of
the story. My plead is to the countless folks who have all the
best intentions and who know no other language, but possess no ability
in the lost art of grammar of the English language.

Anyway… I have a headache today and it’s making my irritable.
There are two things that this article brings up; the first being the
age-old problem of certain administrations being completely immune to
these neat things we have in this country called “laws”. Of
course, you can read a million other blogs on this subject and get a
more concise and stable argument than I could ever make about that
particular subject. Besides… I don’t have the energy for it
anymore. Bush is an untouchable moron. I’ll leave it at
that and let the experts lambaste him for what it’s worth.

Here comes my point, though. Every time one of these things goes
into a public forum, someone plays the race card. It’s an
unfortunate side-effect of the situation and EXACTLY what the
powers-that-be want us to do. If we’re infighting about issues of
racism and pointing fingers at “Arabs” or “White America” or “Those
Damned Different-looking People”, we lose sight of the real issue at
hand; that we’re all being screwed. The ONLY difference is that
every group, excluding “filthy rich”, gets screwed in different
ways. The powers-that-be have to create complacency in the middle
class because middle class possess enough economic power that, if
organized, they could topple the regime. If the “filthy rich”
can’t sell their product the middle class, they aren’t “filthy rich”
for long.

They don’t have to be as careful with the lower tiers of society, and
can leverage the fact that the lower tiers have little-to-no economic
power to create tensions between the economic classes (see crack
cocaine vs powdered laws). This also works to increase crime,
thus creating jobs for more police officers and special task forces to
deal with it. A focus on certain minorities as “troublemakers” by
the powers-that-be increase the tension even more; on both sides.
It convienently becomes a race issue to the people involved. Of
course, there are some idiots mixed into the ranks of power who are
bigots, but you have to wonder if they are purposefully placed to bring
the seperation based on skin color to the forefront or if they are just
completely sold on the bullshit that is fed to the rest of us.

I guess I’m just tired of all the racist bullshit that gets spewed in
both directions in this country. We all need to realize that the
biggest problems in this country stem from economic roots. We
need to focus on those problems and the rest will follow behind.
Of course, no one wants to think about that because it’ll hurt
short-term profitibility and god forbid if Mr. Corporate Mogul were to
make $.50 less this year than last so that an inner city family might
be able to have a chance to lift themselves out of the economic funk
that this system puts them in year after year.

Out.

dead headphonist

Doing my part to screw up America

Well… I went and did the voting thing at 7am this morning. There was quite a line. I waited for just over an hour to cast my vote against the current regime. According the spinmeisters at CNN, though, those of us who oppose the current warmongering, bigotted, lying assholes who currently run this country are a minority. If the current regime retains power because the American people decide it that way, it will prove my longstanding opinion that the majority of Americans are self-absorbed idiots with no consideration for anyone but themselves. But I’m not bitter… no… not me. Ask me again when I’m out of work in eight months. I’m sure I’ll be in a waaaaay better mood.

In case you can’t tell, I’m in a real “unicorns and rainbows” mood today. After being told at work that we’re going to get the “royal” (as in screwing) treatment with the current “insourcing” initiative, I found out that the majority of Americans are OK with writing bigotry and hatred into the very basis of the law of the land… their state constitutions. I’m just waiting for “unless you’re Republican, you can’t vote” initiatives in all the states next. This doesn’t even go anywhere near the frustration I feel at the prospect of having to put another four years of my family’s wellbeing at stake by having Bush and his moneygrubbing warmongering buddies at the helm of this sinking ship.